RCAF 404 Squadron

On 9 February, the Z.33, a Narvik class destroyer, accompanied by escort vessels (including a sperrbrecher), two minesweepers, tugs and trawlers, was found stationary in Førde Fjord by two Recce Beaufighters of 489 Squadron. Amongst various other local fjords, the recce aircraft reported, “no less than 5 transports were seen in Nord-Gulen, the largest between 4000-5000 tons, very attractive targets indeed. ” Even though normal operations would target the merchant vessels the warships were rare prizes and it was decided that this difficult target warranted attack.

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19 thoughts on “RCAF 404 Squadron”

My Uncle, James Ernest Perron (May 11, 1931 – March 23, 1965) flew with 404 Maritime Patrol Squadron. He was killed along with 14 crew members during a training exercise 60 miles north of Puerto Rico. Flight Lieutenant Ernest Perron was the radio operator on the Canadair CP-107 Argus 20727.

My name is Jim Vanderleeuw. I flew with your Uncle F/L Perron. I was there the night the Argus crashed.
His nickname was pronounced ‘Picoo’.
If you are ever in RCAF Stn Greenwood, my Wife painted Argus 20727 from a photo I took the night before it crashed. The painting is on loan to the Museum there.

Hi Tara,
I know a little about that squadron.
While looking at the menu, I found a French-Canadian name, and I got curious.
The link directs us to a .doc file…

This is what is written in that document
The webpage for the history of 404 Squadron is well presented. I was a member of the squadron from April 1943 to July 1944. The write-up about the events of May 1st, 1943 should include the name of the Pilot and the Nav(W) which were David Andrew as the pilot and André Lauzon as navigator . They were flying the Beaufighter “B”. The aircraft was hit by over 100 machine gun bullets. No 20 mm cannon were fired; the Messerschmitt pilot had evidently not engaged his cannons… This may explain why the Beau was able to make it back with 2 flat tires, the port engine leaking oil, no air pressure, and no hydraulics.

It would be appreciated if somehow the names of the aircrews were mentioned. Andrew and Lauzon both completed a 38 operations tour, terminating in July, 1944.

I am enclosing a photo of the pilot David Andrew and the navigator Andre Lauzon, together with a photo of B taken by myself before the Beau was towed away in the hangar out of bounds.

Keep up the good work Pierre! Your blogs provide a space for family members of veterans to connect and recognize the heroic sacrifice that they made. All the best as you search for members and descendants of Squadron 238 members. Tara

The heroic efforts of the RAF against the Luftwaffe in 1940 ensured the Nazis never got a toehold on our island nation.

But ask the average adult about the Battle of Britain today and one in three is likely to say they have never heard of it.

A poll reveals a shocking lack of knowledge about the turning point in the Second World War, when The Few denied Hitler’s forces the air superiority they needed to have any chance of launching a ground invasion.

The survey also found an alarming lack of understanding when it comes to many other defining moments of both world wars.

Almost two in five have never heard of the Battle of the Somme in the First World War, while one in eight did not know the Second World War started in 1939 and ended in 1945. One in 20 even believe Germany was one of Britain’s allies and fought on the same side in both conflicts.

Researchers found one in eight Britons are unaware of D-Day and what it marked, and one in five had not heard of the tragic story of Anne Frank.

The study also found a quarter are not aware of the significance of the poppy fields in the First World War, while more than half (54 per cent) are clueless about the disastrous Gallipoli campaign of 1915-16 in which British, French and Anzac forces took on the Ottoman empire.

The survey of 2,000 adults illustrates a dwindling knowledge of recent history and important conflicts of the last century. The statistics emerged in a study by the makers of The Water Diviner, a film directed by and starring Russell Crowe, which is based on the Gallipoli campaign.

A spokesman said: ‘The two world wars shaped the country into what it is now and are both a huge part of our history. So it’s worrying to see so many people have such little knowledge about what happened during the two conflicts.’

Researchers also found one in ten adults thought a good grasp of world war history was no longer relevant because it was in the past. Three in four Britons admitted they are only aware of many events because they featured in a film or TV programme.

The survey also found that only about half know that Neville Chamberlain was Britain’s prime minister at the start of the Second World War.

Half have no idea about the Nazis defeat at Stalingrad in 1942-43, while even the term VE Day drew blanks from one in four people.

Many others had no idea what the Blitz, Auschwitz and Hiroshima referred to and did not know that The Great War is often used to refer to the First World War. Key dates also drew blanks from those polled, with more than one in ten struggling to pick out the start and end dates of the First World War.

As a footnote to this…
André Lauzon’s picture is no where to be found on that Website.
Very strange!
As a Webmaster I would have posted it right away, and wrote an update.
That’s the least I would have done.

Hi, I’m the grand-son of André Lauzon and if some one got any infos that can be interesting for me it will be a pleasure to read and learn about it. Évidemment je parle également français.
Merci
Philippe Lauzon

F/O JR ‘Rog’ Savard, DFC, pilot and F/O J Middleton, navigator, made a crash landing on the ice of Førdefjord. Middleton died as a result of injuries, and Savard spent the remainder of the war as a POW.(Sqn Archive)

F/O JR Savard made a wheels-up landing on the ice with his aircraft on fire, likely after being hit by flak. The Beaufighter survived the crash, but turned upside down and trapped the crew. Norwegian civilians ran out to the aircraft but had to retreat when they were fired at by German soldiers. Savard and Middleton were seen to be pulled from their aircraft by flak crews, but Middleton was so severely wounded that he did not survive. Savard spent the rest of the war as a POW.

On 23 March 1965, a Canadair CP-107 Argus Mk.2, which was operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force, was lost in the Atlantic Ocean. At the time, it was in the area, about 60 miles north of Puerto Rico, participating in a military training exercise. It had taken off at night on its mission, from (the now former) Roosevelt Roads U.S. Naval Air Station, Puerto Rico, flying northward over the ocean. The RCAF aircrew members intended to return Argus 20727 to that same airport following the completion of their objectives. This big sub-hunter aircraft, Canadian designed and built Argus 20727, was from the 404 Maritime Patrol and Training Squadron, based in Greenwood, Nova Scotia, Canada. In May of 1958 Greenwood received its first Argus for use in its aerial operations, and between 1958 and 1981, Argus crews from Canada flew thousands of hours on Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) patrols, many of them out of Greenwood, Nova Scotia, and Summerside, Prince Edward Island. The name “Argus” comes from Greek mythology; Argus, “the vigilant watchman”, was the 100-eyed giant. Thus it was a most fitting name for an aircraft which at that time had more sensors on board than any other single aircraft.